RAM News - Page 26

Update: SK Hynix has reached out to us to clarify that it does not own or run the new KLEVV brand. The SK Hynix rep said: "KLEVV has NO relationship with SK Hynix Inc and is NEVER owned or launched by SK Hynix Inc.. KLEVV is a brand name under the company ESSENCORE (which is a subsidiary of SK C&C)".

The high-end DRAM market has been dominated by a few players in the last couple of years, with the likes of Corsair, G.SKILL, Crucial and a few others. But it looks like this could all change with the introduction of a new company, KLEVV, which was showing off its new DDR3 and DDR4 modules at PAX South this weekend. The KLEVV website has only opened up in the last 24 hours, which you can check out here.

KLEVV is a partner of SK Hynix, who sell their DRAM IC to companies like Corsair or G.SKILL, but now it could be providing its top binned (best chips) to KLEVV, giving it a serious edge against the competition. This means that KLEVV will be a force to be reckoned with within the DRAM market rather quickly, without having to worry about securing the best IC and paying through the nose for it, as it will be cherry picking the very best thanks to its strong connection with its parent company; Essencore, which falls under the SK Hynix umbrella.

CES 2015 - Back in 2011, I had recently moved to the state of Victoria, Australia. As I only had found a temporary share house and it was a blazing hot summer, I got completely roasted. As any good nerd would do, I spent the hottest of the days in my bedroom, sweating whilst on my computer - playing Counter-Strike:Source and wishing I was somewhere else. My PC got so hot that it blue screened and obviously I tried to figure out what was going on. Opening up the side of the case, I went to re-seat my RAM only to have my hands burnt by the inferno that was now my memory. RAM gets hot, people!

Mushkin are trying to combat spicy RAM stories like these, releasing information on their new Ridgeback heat sink for their Blackline and Redline memory products. Claimed to be produced from aircraft-grade aluminum, this is the second generation of Ridgeback to hit the market - scheduled to launch in Q1 2015 with Mushkin's DDR4 memory kit line.

These DDR4 modules feature XMP 2.0 profiles, delivering easy and reliable overclocking performance when paired with Intel X99 and the latest generation of Intel Core i7 CPUs. Mushkin further claim in their press release that the "Redline and Blackline Ridgeback memory kits are built with hand-screened DRAM, undergo rigorous stress testing, and incorporate state-of-the-art cooling for reliable performance in demanding environments."

ADATA has just announced its new Gold Edition XPG Z1 DDR4 overclocking RAM, which comes in four speeds; 3000/3200/3300/3333MHz. The new memory is perfect for your Haswell-E build, as it will provide some of the best DDR4 RAM for your system, period.

ADATA has decreased the operating voltage of its XPG Z1 RAM from 1.5V to 1.35V, with that 10% reduction in power providing lower temperatures for more stable operation at higher speeds. Even at 3333MHz, the CL16-16-16 timings and a transfer bandwidth of 26.6GB/sec, you can be assured, you're getting some seriously fast RAM with the ADATA kit.

The company has splashed its jet wing-inspired design with a race car carbon texture that ADATA says "embodies the pursuit of extreme performance." The XPG Z1 chips are cooled by its unique Thermal Conductive Technology and 10-layer PCBs with 2oz of pure copper, which has the chips on the XPG Z1 enjoying direct contact with the heat sinks. This means that the IC and PCB "operate at an evenly distributed temperature."

As according to their newly issued press release, Samsung announced today that mass production has begun for the industry's first 8 gigabit low power double data rate 4 (LPDDR4) mobile DRAM.

This technology is claimed to be based on their 20-nm process technology, stating that LPDDR memory is generally used as 'working memory' for mobile devices around the globe.

Samsung's Executive Vice President of Memory Sales and Marketing is excited given this news, comenting that "by initiating production of 20nm 8Gb LPDDR4, which is even faster than the DRAM for PCs and servers and consumes much less energy, we are contributing to the timely launch of UHD, large-screen flagship mobile devices," further adding "as this major advancement in mobile memory demonstrates, we will continue to closely collaborate with global mobile device manufacturers to optimize DRAM solutions, making them suitable for next-generation mobile OS environments."

As CES Las Vegas draws ever closer, we're receiving more and more news of companies making the trek over to the party capital to show off their fancy new technology to all.

Located in the South hall 4, Super Talent will be showcasing their new next generation of DDR4 DRAM, SSD's and USB 3.0 flash drives at this massive event. Their booth will be fitted out with technology experts aiming to provide the best information possible to all who attend.

Have you been caught up in the DDR4 hype-train yet? Offering higher data rates with lower power consumption, alonside the potential for increased mobile density they're certainly the tech of the future. Whether you check out Super Talent or not, we suggest you take a look at DDR4 either way.

It wasn't long ago that we teased that AMD could be using SK Hynix's next-gen memory on its next-gen Radeon R9 390X GPU, but this new memory is now shipping from SK Hynix in the form of 8GHz GDDR5, in 4Gb single sticks.

As it stands, AMD's best GPU; the Radeon R9 290X, has its memory frequency hitting around 5-6GHz, while NVIDIA's enjoys things a little higher, at 7GHz. SK Hynix's new chips increase the frequency up to 8GHz, in 4Gb chips, which should see some deliriously fast GPUs on offer for the next-gen.

With AMD's Radeon R9 390X rumored to have a 4096-bit bus, this memory shipping could indicate we're closer to seeing a next-gen GPU not only from AMD, but NVIDIA. AMD's R9 290X has a 512-bit memory bus, but this new HBM RAM could really kick things up a notch, especially with AMD partnering up with SK Hynix before the rumors of the next-gen GPUs even began.

Memory manufacturer G.SKILL has announced it reached 4004MHz frequency using its Ripjaws 4 Series DDR4 RAM on an ASUS ROG X99 Rampage V Extreme motherboard powered with the Intel Core i7-5930K CPU. The speed was verified by CPU-Z freeware system and hardware benchmarking software.

G.SKILL officially announced Ripjaws 4 just a week ago, with 32GB RAM kits available running at 2133, 2400, 2800, 3000MHz - 64GB kits include 2133, 2400, 2666 and 2800MHz. A separate 3200MHz kit will be available in 16GB only.

The launch of Intel X99 paired with DDR4 memory has excited PC enthusiasts and hardware manufacturers - as several gaming companies announced new PCs pushing impressive benchmarks. Expect RAM manufacturers to continue pushing DDR4 speeds even higher moving forward, while hardware will remain rather pricey in the foreseeable future.

Hardware companies Corsair and ASUS have teamed up to create the fastest production DDR4 memory kit for use with the Intel Core i7 Extreme Edition CPUs. The new Corsair Dominator Platinum DDR4 memory kits are available in 3000MHz, 3200MHz and 3300MhZ speeds. The new RAM kits work especially well using the ASUS X99 Deluxe and Rampage V Extreme motherboards for Intel Core i7 CPU fans.

This is a significant collaboration, as DDR3 speeds increased from 800MHz up to 1600-1866MHz, but the DDR4 modules introduced by Corsair should immediately provide impressive benchmarks. The Corsair DDR4 memory kits are available now for the Vengeance LPX and Dominator Platinum lines - and the ASUS X99-Deluxe and Rampage and V Extreme motherboards are available now.

"Our rigorous validation with ASUS has enabled us to make Dominator Platinum 3300MHz the fastest desktop DDR4 memory available at launch," said Thi La, Corsair COO, in a press statement. "Our OC team and engineers are excited to see such performance headroom the new Intel platform and are looking forward to releasing even faster kits in the near future."

Samsung just announced today that they have begun mass production of the industry's first 3D TSV technology based DDR4 modules for enterprise related products. Samsung has said: "announcing that we have begun mass producing the industry's first 64GB DDR4 RDIMMs that use 3D 'through silicon via' (TSV) package technology. The new 64GB TSV module performs twice as fast as a 64GB module that uses wire bonding packaging, while consuming approximately half the power."

"Samsung's volume production of 3D TSV modules marks a new milestone in the history of memory technology, following the company's initial production of 3D Vertical NAND (V-NAND) flash memory last year. While 3D V-NAND technology embraces high-rise vertical structures of cell arrays inside a monolithic die, 3D TSV is an innovative packaging technology that vertically interconnects stacked dies. With its introduction of the new TSV modules, Samsung has further strengthened its technological leadership in the '3D memory' era. Samsung has worked on improving 3D TSV technology since it developed 40nm-class* 8GB DRAM RDIMMs in 2010 and 30nm-class* 32GB DRAM RDIMMs in 2011 using 3D TSV. This year, Samsung started operating a new manufacturing system dedicated to TSV packaging, for mass producing the new server modules."

In order for Samsung to build these 3D TSV modules, the dies are ground down to a few dozen micrometers, and then pierced to contain hundreds of fine holes. Electrodes passing through the holes allow them to be vertically connected and stacked. In the future Samsung believes they will be able to stack more than four dies using 3D TSV technology.

Corsair has just taken the wraps off of its new DDR4 RAM, where it has announced two DDR4 kits in its Dominator Platinum range. Both of the new DDR4-powered products are 16GB kits, with a 2800MHz kit, and a 2666MHz kit.

The faster of the two is the Dominator Platinum Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR4 DRAM 2800MHz C16 Memory Kit (CMD16GX4M4A2800C16), while the second kit is the Dominator Platinum Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR4 DRAM 2666MHz C15 Memory Kit (CMD16GX4M4A2666C15). Both of the new DDR4 kits include XMP 2.0, which allows for super easy automatic overclocking. Both of the kids also support Corsair Link, so that you can use the software for temperature monitoring, and even the ability to enhance the white LED lighting on the RAM itself.

Corsair offers a limited lifetime warranty on its Dominator Platinum RAM, so you won't have to worry about spending a considerable sum on RAM, and not have the kick ass support behind it. Corsair is selling the 2800MHz kit for $539.99, while the 2666MHz kit is slightly cheaper at $479.99.